World Briefs

May 08, 2006

GOLFFuryk's luck changes A hard-luck loser in a four-hole playoff last year, Jim Furyk made an eight-foot par putt to force extra holes against Trevor Immelman of South Africa, then made a six-footer for par on No. 18 in the playoff to win the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday. Furyk, who had a one-shot lead going into a rainy final round, closed with a 1-under 71 and earned $1.134 million for his 11th career victory. Immelman finished with a 70 to match Furyk at 12-under 276. Kerr comes from behind Cristie Kerr overcame a four-stroke deficit to win her seventh LPGA Tour title, closing with a 5-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over Lorena Ochoa, Pat Hurst and Angela Stanford in the Franklin American Mortgage Championship in Franklin, Tenn. Bryant tops Champions Brad Bryant won the Regions Charity Classic in Hoover, Ala., for his second Champions Tour victory of the year, closing with an eagle, birdie and a par for an 8-under 64 and a two-stroke victory over Mark McNulty. AUTO RACINGSchumacher dominates Michael Schumacher won the European Grand Prix in Nuerburgring, Germany, for the sixth time Sunday, his second straight Formula One victory over runner-up Fernando Alonso. Felipe Massa, Schumacher's Ferrari teammate, was third on the 3.2-mile course, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes. The four were far ahead of the rest of the field. NBANash beats James for MVP Steve Nash -- the maestro of the fast, frenetic Phoenix Suns -- beat runner-up LeBron James of Cleveland as the NBA's Most Valuable Player by a comfortable margin in results announced Sunday. The Suns playmaker received 57 first-place votes and 924 points overall from a panel of 125 sports writers and broadcasters in the United States and Canada. James had 16 first-place votes and 688 points overall. Wallace top defender Detroit center Ben Wallace won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time in five years, a person within the Pistons organization told The Associated Press on Sunday. Wallace joins Dikembe Mutombo as the only four-time Defensive Player of the Year in league history. The muscular 6-foot-9, 240-pounder also won the award last year in 2003 and 2002. BOXINGOscar now has options When Oscar De La Hoya gets back to his adopted home in Puerto Rico, he'll have plenty of lucrative choices to make about his revitalized career -- who to fight, when to fight, and when to stop. Deciding to stay at home with his wife and son might be the bravest choice of all. De La Hoya got the boxing world buzzing Saturday night in Las Vegas after a 20-month absence from the ring, pounding Ricardo Mayorga from the opening-minute knockdown to the final flurry of head punches in the sixth round to claim the WBC 154-pound title.